Moose host but Marlies triumph

The Manitoba Moose ostensibly were the home team, but the Toronto Marlies looked like anything but the visitors—in control of a 5-3 exhibition victory from start to finish Friday night in front of many Fort Frances fans wearing their familiar blue and white.
While cheering from the crowd seemed split between the Vancouver Canucks-affiliated Moose and the Maple Leafs’ farm team, the score was in Toronto’s favour throughout the game.
Darryl Boyce opened the scoring six-and-a-half minutes in. Then after Jimmy Sharrow tied it up a few minutes later, the Marlies took over—netting three unanswered goals.
The Moose stormed back with a pair of markers—one late in the second period and the other early in the third—to make the score 4-3 and add some excitement to the proceedings before Boyce tallied an empty-netter in the final seconds.
“I thought for us, the Moose, we were a little loose coming out of the gate,” coach Scott Arniel said.
The Marlies had arrived in Fort Frances the day before while the Moose pulled into town closer to puck drop—and Arniel figured a case of “bus legs” may have given their opponents an advantage.
“I thought we were a lot better in the third,” Arniel said. “But it’s still a feeling out process.”
The out-of-town experience was a positive one for all involved. The arena was packed, with seats filled throughout and fans lining the rail behind them.
The players didn’t mind the change of venue, either.
“It’s different. I mean, I was coming from Chicago,” admitted Sharrow, who scored two goals in his first trip to Fort Frances. “It was good for the fans.
“This place doesn’t have an AHL team, so it’s good for them to see what it’s like,” he added.
“It’s good, you know? It’s good to give other communities a look,” said Marlies’ captain David Ling, who drew two assists in Friday night’s game.
“People were great . . . it’s a great little hockey community,” he added.
As for the idea that the players were disturbed being away from home, Arniel said nothing could be further from the truth.
“Well, you know what, actually, we like that . . . it’s always good to get out as a group and get out into these rinks, these little hockey rinks,” he remarked.
He said with the “nice” crowd and small-town setting, Fort Frances “reminds players of the small towns they grew up in.”
“It’s always hockey,” echoed Marc-Andre Bernier, who tallied the third goal for the Moose, and agreed the trip to Northwestern Ontario was good for team bonding.
“We get to know our team a little bit better outside of Winnipeg.”
Despite all the pro players on the ice, the star of the night was Marlies’ goalie Justin Pogge. He practised and skated with the team, but did not dress, as AHL veteran Todd Ford played the full 60 minutes for Toronto.
Pogge spent the game in a suit in the stands—signing numerous autographs throughout the game from fans who probably know the prospect better from his international junior career than his play in the AHL.
Pogge said he had been recognized constantly at the rink, but other than the Memorial Sports Centre and the hotel, he didn’t see many of the sights around town.
“I haven’t been out,” he shrugged. “We don’t have really much time.”
Shane Bliss, head coach of the Muskie boys’ hockey team, said he was happy with the “super response to the team and great turnout” from the game, which served as a fundraiser for the high school club.
He said figures on the money made from the game and attendance are still to come, but conservatively estimated attendance at around 1,100 people for the exhibition.
The two teams reprised their exhibition series Saturday night in Dryden, with the Moose beating the Marlies 3-2 in overtime.
The Marlies start their regular season this Saturday while the Moose begin play Oct. 11.